Co-Op Advising Center Gets a Face-Lift

Monday, February 4, 2008

The Erivan K. Haub School of Business' Co-op Advising Center has received an extreme office makeover. Although the center remains grounded in its original mission to serve the students enrolled in the business school's co-op program, the center's responsibilities have expanded to enculturate students into the professional environment. To reflect the expansion, the Co-op Advising Center has changed its name to the Professional Practice Center and recently welcomed Todd Krug, Ph.D., as its director.

Over the past year, the co-op program has doubled its number of participating students. And although the program has enjoyed a substantial amount of growth, one of Krug's primary goals is to further increase student participation. "I hope to continue marketing the strengths of the original co-op program to prospective and current students, and make the most of potential opportunities," he said.

Those opportunities include working with the University's Career Development Center to offer business students sessions on resume writing, mock interviews and etiquette. Krug will also work with the Center's affiliated business leaders to schedule networking events, site visits and mock interviews for undergraduates.

As students interested in co-op apply their freshman year, Krug would like to communicate the value of participating in the program as early as possible. Co-op integrates a rotation of school and employment terms that enables the student to complement his or her formal classroom training with additional knowledge, hands-on experience and compensated employment.

The program is structured to allow students to obtain a total of twelve months of experience without extending their graduation date beyond the traditional four years. It's Krug's experience that by immersing students in the professional environment they "earn legitimate work experience and get turned on to what the possibilities are in their field."

Krug began his professional career at Saint Joseph's in 1989 as an area coordinator in Student Life. After earning his doctorate from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, he returned to Saint Joseph's as director of Living Learning in 2000.

As both offices involve creating opportunities for learning outside of the classroom, Krug said his tenure with Living Learning at Saint Joseph's prepared him for his new responsibilities with the Professional Practice Center. In his previous role, Krug established academic housing options for students; managed over 150 faculty programs for undergraduates; and brought the New York Times readership program to campus, among other initiatives. Krug is also the advisor for the Co-Op Society and teaches a course on communication skills to University College students.